So yesterday I tried to accomplish several different things at one time – I wanted to create a card for the Stamping 411 challenge, I wanted to create a card (actually 3 cards) for the Late Night Stampers challenge and I wanted to start on my card designs for my class later this month using the Last Chance stamp sets that I have and that we will be using in my Stamp-a-Stack class.

The Late Night Stampers challenge was to use one of the retiring stamp sets and create cards for three different occasons using the same stamp set.  I decided to use Heartfelt Thanks as my main stamp set but ended up using Hugs & Wishes with it – it is also retiring.    Two of the three cards use the sketch from the Stamping 411 challenge.

And one of the three cards will be in my Stamp-a-Stack class later this month.

The inspiration for this card came from my friend Michele who is very talented and also a demonstrator.  She loves sponging (I do too) and using the white gel pen.  This card uses both the Heartfelt Thanks and Hugs & Wishes stamp sets.  Colors are Kraft, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.    The Circle Scissor Plus and the Big Shot were used in this card too.

The second card was based on the Stamping 411 sketch. Again using the Heartfelt Thanks and Hugs & Wishes stamp sets.  I used the Sweet Always Designer Series Paper and the colors include Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and Regal Rose.  The base of the card is Kraft since I had that left from the other card.  The ribbon is wrapped all the way around and I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch a small slit at the fold of the card. This creates a hole that you can feed the ribbon through to wrap around the front of the card.  I then punch a hole with my paper piercer where I wanted the brad to go and put the ribbon inbetween the two prongs of the Rhinestone brad before putting it through the hole.  I pulled the ribbon tight and then flattened out the brad prongs on the back.  It actually worked out that on the inside of my card the prongs were hidden by the ribbon.

And then the third card for the Late Night Stampers Challenge also uses the Stamping 411 sketch.  This time I used the Sweet Always Designer Series paper as the actual focal point of the card – the piece with the Always bird on it.  I used Heartfelt Thanks for part of the greeting and the THANKS comes from the Chit Chat Rub-Ons.  To create my little accent on the Chocolate Chip strip I took a piece of the Regal Rose wide Grosgrain ribbon and frayed several inches of it.  Then took the frayed portion and tied it around one of the little paper clips from the clips assortment.

Three different cards and I like all three.  The third card you could basically create the same idea using the Always stamp set – Stamp the bird image in VersaMark ink on some Designer Series Paper and clear emboss it – or stamp it in a the ink that is slightly darker than the paper you are working with.  Lots of possibilities.  The Sweet Always paper happens to have the bird image on one of the patterns so I used that.

That’s what I have to share with you today.  Don’t forget that Heartfelt Thanks, Hugs & Wishes and the Sweet Always Designer Paper are all retiring so order today by visiting my website – www.monika.stampinup.net – and click the SHOP NOW button or contact me by email or phone and I’ll place the order for you.

Have a creative day!